The present invention pertains to methods of preparing water treatment equipment for shipping and/or storage. The invention also pertains to the treatment of water, and to methods of setting up and commissioning water treatment plants. Such water treatment equipment may include, but is not limited to pressure vessels, carbon columns, ion exchange columns, ultrafiltration modules or assemblies, microfiltration modules or assemblies, nanofiltration modules or assemblies, reverse osmosis modules or assemblies, and associated pumps, conduits, valves, and instrumentation.
Modern water treatment plants are usually built in transportable size modules, e.g., in assemblies of several basic treatment units and their supporting equipment, that may be packaged on xe2x80x9cskidsxe2x80x9d or in xe2x80x9ctrailersxe2x80x9d for shipment to a final site for installation. These modules are usually tested before shipping. One common test is a hydrostatic pressure test. For this test the interior liquid holding volume of the module, including all piping, is filled with water and is pressurized to test for leakage and the equipment""s ability to withstand pressures above normal rated design operating pressure. Quality assurance testing of the system or assembly, including operational performance testing of some components may also be performed. For example, the operational performance of an electrodialysis stack, or the pressure and response performance of pumps and other units, may be checked. After testing, the equipment is drained and/or flushed with gas, usually air, to force out as much liquid as possible. The equipment may also be partially disassembled, e.g., broken down into smaller, more transportable sub-units.
It is, however, extremely difficult, if not impossible, to remove all water from the system or assembly. Traces of water therefore remain; this may include ponded water in dead end legs of the plumbing or in crannies of the active treatment modules. This residual water may provide an environment that supports the growth of microorganisms, particularly bacteria, fungi, and molds, including biofilms, e.g., slime-enclosed colonies of microorganisms.
Normally equipment is shipped in this wetted condition and, if any sterilization and/or disinfection of the system or assembly is later needed, it is usually performed after final installation of the equipment at its destination. The interval between the completion of testing and completion of equipment installation at an intended treatment plant provides substantial time in which biological growth and/or spread of biological contamination may occur in the system or assembly. The resulting growth can make it difficult to sterilize the equipment in preparation for use in the production of treated water, particularly if biofilms have grown. As a result, it may be necessary to perform aggressive cleaning of the equipment, and perhaps to also implement a number of rather time-consuming safeguards, such as isolating certain components during cleaning, before the treatment apparatus is allowed to operate in its intended use.
That is, water treatment equipment, broadly defined, is frequently fabricated off-site, at a location other than the intended end use site, is tested at the fabrication site to some extent, and then is shipped, or is partly disassembled into shippable modules or sub-assemblies, each of which can be transported on a highway trailer or in an ocean-going container. Typically, important modules or sub-assemblies are tested with water or an aqueous solution, and several modules may be connected together during the testing procedure. The advantage of testing off site is that a dedicated test site can typically perform testing and troubleshooting more cheaply and more effectively than is possible at a remote construction site.
However, as a trade-off, before final testing and acceptance of the completed treatment plant by the end user, a system must pass through many stages, which generally comprise the following:
i. assembly or xe2x80x9cpre-fabricationxe2x80x9d of a treatment unit at the off-site facility
ii. testing of the treatment unit at the off-site facility;
iii. preparing the unit for shipping or storage;
iv. optionally, storing the unit prior to shipment;
v. shipping the unit;
vi. storing the unit at the end user site before assembly into a complete treatment system;
vii. assembly of several units into a complete plant; and
viii. sanitization and testing before acceptance by the end user.
The required degree of sanitization may vary greatly depending on the intended end use. However, for economic reasons, one would like to make the on-site sanitization, including whatever degree of disinfection or sterilization may be required, as quick and as straightforward as possible.
The present invention provides a method that eliminates or minimizes growth of microorganisms in a treatment system or assembly intended for purification of water or other liquids, during storage and/or shipping of the assembly prior to use. The method assures that the treatment equipment may be shipped, stored, and then set up or commissioned without lengthy cleaning operations in the completed treatment plant at the end-user site. The invention also includes a method of providing a treatment plant, and purifying water using equipment that has been sterilized, shipped, and stored in an aseptic state prior to end user site assembly.
Practice of the invention includes a step of providing a sterilizing condition prior to shipping or storage. This is done by introducing a biocidal agent to interior regions or fluid-containing volumes of the system for a biocidally effective level or residence time, e.g., effective, for example, to sanitize the equipment, for example, to bring about substantially 100 percent kill of microorganisms in the system or components. The method also includes the step of effectively sealing shippable units of the system or assembly against subsequent ingress of additional microorganisms.
In one embodiment of the invention, a biocidal agent is added directly to fluid that is used to test the water treatment system or assembly to provide a substantially 100 percent kill of microorganisms in the system or assembly. A substantially 100 percent kill, as used herein, means a bacteriologically significant level of kill. The level may be high, e.g., at least 99%, and is preferably a level of kill that is effective to completely eliminate viable microbial growth such that colonies of microbes do not form, or are not detected by relevant assays, during the period before final installation of the tested equipment. Preferably, water used for testing the system or assembly is treated so that it is sterile, thereby preventing introduction of live microorganisms. The water may, for example, be pretreated by means of sterile filters, passage through an effective ultraviolet light sterilization device, passage through a silver impregnated carbon column, or similar treatment prior to passage through the equipment. For ultrapure water treatment systems, preferred biocidal agents are selected from the group consisting of heat (e.g., in the form of a heated fluid), ozonated water, ozone, and hydrogen peroxide, all of which leave no residue and thus do not contaminate an ultrapure water system or assembly. Alternatively, for some embodiments of this invention, radiation treatment, such as gamma radiation, may be used as an effective biocidal agent. For drinking water treatment systems, a biocidal agent that leaves no toxic residue, or one that may be flushed out with clean water, may be used. For commercial and industrial water treatment systems or assemblies, a biocidal agent that is compatible with the end use of the water, or a biocidal agent that is easily flushed out with clean water may be used. After the system or assembly is disinfected in accordance with this invention, the disinfecting liquid is drained from the system, and ingress by microorganisms is effectively blocked by closing system openings, e.g., with microporous diaphragms or filters to seal the system.
In another preferred embodiment, liquid used to test the system or assembly may be displaced and another fluid which is or which contains a biocidal agent, may be provided to fill the system. Where high temperature is the biocidal agent, liquid or fluid at an elevated temperature may be recirculated in a closed loop throughout the system for an adequate time/temperature history in all parts of the system, to insure an effective level of kill of microorganisms. After the system or assembly is disinfected in accordance with this invention, the fluid is preferably removed from the system, at least in part, and the system is effectively sealed against ingress of microorganisms.
In another preferred embodiment, a biocidal and/or biostatic agent may be introduced to the system or assembly in the form of a gas mixture. This mixture may be used to displace liquid used for testing the system or assembly. After the system or assembly is filled with the gas phase mixture, any means of ingress by microorganisms is effectively sealed.
In another preferred embodiment, the biocidal/biostatic agent is introduced to the liquid used to test the system so that sanitization occurs during testing. The liquid and agent are then displaced by introducing gas via sterile valve(s). The gas may itself be sterile, or may be introduced using a sterile filter and appropriate sterile vent(s), so as to prevent recontamination of the system or assembly by microorganisms. After the system or assembly is sterilized in accordance with this invention, any means of ingress by microorganisms is effectively sealed. Sterile valve assemblies and sterile vent assemblies are well known in the food and beverage, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology processing industries. Examples of such sterile valves are Tri-Flo(copyright) valves manufactured by Tri Clover Incorporated. Examples of sterile vents are Aervents(copyright) filters manufactured by Millipore Corporation.
In another preferred embodiment, test liquid is drained from the system and the system is flushed with another liquid containing biocidal and/or biostatic agent. After system sterilization in accordance with this invention, liquid is displaced by means of sterile valves and aseptic gas (e.g., gas passed through an appropriate sterile filter.) After the system or assembly is thus sterilized, any means of ingress by microorganisms is effectively sealed. Some or all of the sealing devices, such as sterile vents or the like, may be installed prior to the sterilization and flushing steps.
In still another preferred embodiment, the test fluid is displaced from the system by means of sterile valves and aseptic gas introduced by means of sterile vents. Such gas may be, for example, a mixture of a gas such as air, nitrogen, argon, carbon dioxide, etc. and a gas or vapor phase biocidal agent. After the system or assembly is sterilized, any means of ingress by microorganisms is effectively sealed, preferably with an aseptic seal.
In yet another preferred embodiment, where a system is to be assembled from multiple assemblies, each assembly being of an easily shippable size, and the assembled system is tested prior to storage or shipment, sterile filters may be placed at each junction between assemblies such that after the system is sterilized, the assemblies may be separated in such a way that the sterile filters remain on each opening of each assembly, thereby preventing recontamination of the assemblies by microorganisms while allowing separate shipment and storage of each assembly.
In another preferred embodiment, the biocidal agent is selected from the group consisting of water containing ozone at a concentration ranging from about 0.0001 mg/L to 12 mg/L: ozone at a concentration ranging from about 0.1 micrograms/L to 2 weight percent of the liquid; hydrogen peroxide at a concentration ranging from about 10 mg/L to 10 weight percent of the liquid; peracetic acid at a concentration ranging from about 10 micrograms/L to 10 weight percent of the liquid: and an alkali hypochlorite at a concentration ranging from about 0.1 mg/L to 10 weight percent of the liquid.
In another preferred embodiment, the biocidal agent is selected from the group consisting of iodine, pyrrolidone-iodine, and similar iodine-organic complexes an oligodynamic metal such as silver, copper, or zinc, and mixtures thereof.
In another preferred embodiment the biocidal agent is selected from the group consisting of biocidal agents consisting of ozone at a concentration ranging from about 1 part per trillion to 10 volume percent of the gas or vapor mixture used to sterilize the system or assembly; ethylene oxide at a concentration ranging from about 1 part per trillion to 10 volume percent of the gas or vapor mixture used to sterilize the system or assembly; chlorine at a concentration ranging from about 1 part per trillion to 10 volume percent of the gas or vapor mixture used to sterilize the system or assembly; chlorine dioxide at a concentration ranging from about 1 part per trillion to 10 volume percent of the gas or vapor mixture used to sterilize the system or assembly; bromine at a concentration ranging from about 1 part per trillion to 10 volume percent of the gas or vapor mixture used to sterilize the system or assembly: chlorine monoxide at a concentration ranging from about 1 part per trillion to 10 volume percent of the gas or vapor mixture used to sterilize the system or assembly; bromine chloride at a concentration ranging from about 1 part per trillion to 10 volume percent of the gas or vapor mixture used to sterilize the system or assembly; sulfur dioxide at a concentration ranging from about 1 part per trillion to 10 volume percent of the gas or vapor mixture used to sterilize the system or assembly: and mixtures or combinations thereof.
The invention also provides a method of treating water, or of providing a treatment plant for purifying water, wherein the method includes the steps of assembling and testing modules and assemblies of an intended plant at a fabrication site, testing of at least some of the modules and sanitization and sealing thereof, followed (in any order) by storage and by transportation to a use site, and thereafter assembling the modules and assemblies into a treatment plant and operating the plant to treat water.
In a preferred embodiment of this aspect of the invention, the said water treatment plant or unit is a member of the group including: filtration, activated carbon filtration, ultraviolet irradiation, absorption, adsorption, ion exchange, electrodialysis, electrodialysis reversal, filled cell electrodialysis, electrodeionization reversal, electrodiaresis, microfiltration, membrane filtration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, reverse osmosis, hyperfiltration and their equivalents.